History

History of Chambers Creek Regional Park

Chambers Creek Regional Park is comprised of 930 acres along the shore
of south Puget Sound. While Pierce County's ownership is relatively
recent, the making of the Park properties and its surrounding land uses
began to take shape hundreds of years ago, influenced not only by the
physical changes made, but by the people who lived and worked here.

Aerial photo of the Chambers Creek area circa 1963 (left) and 2006 (right).

The first settlers of the area were the Steilacoom Indian Tribe, a
small group of Puget Salish speakers who lived along the east shore of
Puget Sound in the current location of the Town of Steilacoom. An
ancient summer fishing village was identified in the southern-most
portion of the area within the historic entrance to Chambers Bay. The
arrival of the Hudson Bay Company and its Puget Sound Agricultural
Company (PSAC) in 1832 was the start of the European settlement in the
area. Fort Steilacoom, built just south of the properties across
Chambers Creek, was the PSAC headquarters and commercial trading
settlement until it became a US Army outpost established to help keep
the peace following establishment of the Canada-US Boundary in 1846.
Many of the historic fort buildings are still in existence today.

Industrial development of the region began in the 1850s with grist
mills and small-scale timber activities supporting nearby agricultural
and lumber mills. In the early 1890s, the federal government selected
Pacific Bridge Company to construct Fort Casey, Fort Warden and Fort
Flagler, strategic military locations guarding the entrance to Puget
Sound. Pacific Bridge was one of the two fledgling gravel mines
operating on the site where the Chambers Bay golf course now lies.
Subsequent owners over the next century enjoyed the rich gravel deposits
found there. By 1992, Lone Star Northwest had merged all the gravel
mining into the single largest producer of sand and gravel in the
nation. Large scale mining continued until December 2003 when commercial
mining ended and reclamation of the Chambers Creek properties began.

Pierce County first began operations at the properties in the 1950s
with the development of a small County road shop and gravel mine where
the Environmental Services Building and playfields exist today. In the
1980s, portions of the Chambers Creek Canyon began to be acquired and
donated to protect this unique, wooded canyon and creek area from
overdevelopment.

The Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater
Treatment Plant began operations on a small portion of the Lone Star
Northwest Gravel Mine in 1984; and, eight years later, the Sewer Utility
purchased the entire mine. The Utility's 650-acre purchase triggered
the creation of the Chambers Creek Public Work's properties and the
development of the Master Site Plan in 1997 to govern the reclamation
and restoration.

In less than 15 years, the transformation from mineral extraction and resource industry to reclamation is clearly evident. The public offices and government operations, public access and recreation areas, habitat restoration and enhancement, championship golf and fine dining venue, and miles of trails are just a portion of the changes.

In 2011, recreational opportunities were expanded to the 930-acre site due to the growth in popularity. The Executive shifted day-to-day responsibilities to the expert staff in the Parks and Recreation Department, making it easier to coordinate and promote public access, events and opportunities, and commercial activities at the site.

Currently, expansion of the wastewater treatment plant, the overpass bridge opening more than two miles of salt water beach, and more trails are the most visible changes. Pierce County Parks and Recreation along with Public Works will continue to work on additional amenities detailed in the Master Site plan as funding becomes available in the years to come.

Contact Us

NeSha Thomas-Schadt
Recreation Supervisor

Pierce County Parks and Recreation
9850 64th St. W.
University Place, WA 98467